Small business's man in Washington?

Republicans are excited to have U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate, but should small business owners share their excitement? Not necessarily.

Inc.com takes a close look at the Wisconsin Republican's record and finds a bit of a mixed bag.

In his budget plan, Rep. Ryan “(would) strip away regulatory bureaucracy that could ease the start of certain small businesses. But he voted against the Small Business Jobs Act, which some think increased contracting opportunities for the smallest businesses, and also increased the SBA's lending capacity.”

Wealthy individuals would get tax breaks under Rep. Ryan's plan, which could aid many business owners but comes with a catch.

“Ryan insists that his budget plan would be 'revenue-neutral,' and that the tax cuts he champions would be paid for by getting rid of other loopholes and subsidies,” according to Inc.com.

“The problem, of course, is that his proposal says nothing about which loopholes he'd close: the mortgage interest deduction, perhaps? Subsidized employer health insurance premiums? It's hard to project what the landscape would look like for entrepreneurs without these kinds of details,” the website concludes.

Words to live by

Here's a reminder that risk-taking isn't always rewarded with acclaim.

The Wall Street Journal's Cynthia Crossen, who covers books for the paper, wrote a column last Friday about book-related podcasts. She wasn't terribly impressed by what she heard, including the efforts of two Northeast Ohio women.

"Listening to the ABC Book Review Podcast is like overhearing two young women talking on a bus," Ms. Crossen wrote. "Beth Hatch and Cari Dubiel of the Twinsburg (Ohio) Public Library seem to just turn on a microphone and start yakking. Both very much like the word 'like.' I think all book lovers can all identify with this recent exchange:"

"'Please Ignore Vera Dietz' was very good; I forget who wrote it."

"What was that about?"

"Honestly, I don't remember much about it except that I really liked it. It was really well structured, it was a teen book, it was about the main character, Vera Dietz, and there were some other things that happened that I don't remember but I really liked it, I just read it so fast I don't remember it. I'd have to go back and read it."

Mr. Crossen concludes, "In their parlance, I was like, oh my gosh."

I listened to one podcast and found it quite entertaining. But as anyone with an entrepreneurial bent knows, not everything you do will be embraced by every potential customer.

Details, details

Startups that use sites like Kickstarter.com to raise money may have tax liabilities on the funds they receive, according to this piece by Reuters.

When Kickstarter began in 2009, "crowdfunding was largely used by musicians, film makers and other creative types to raise small sums of money for projects that might not make any money. But as it's grown — in some cases, becoming an alternative to venture capital — the dollars involved have gotten bigger," Reuters notes.

If you raise more than $20,000 on Kickstarter from more than 200 people, you'll get a Form 1099-K (a new tax form introduced in 2011 and required for third-party payments above that threshold), courtesy of Amazon Payments, which processes transactions for the site, according to its news service.

Another crowdfunding site, Indiegogo, which allows pledges by PayPal or credit card, notes in its agreement that users "shall have full responsibility for applicable taxes" on their projects' funding. (Kickstarter and Indiegogo both declined to discuss tax issues.)

The bottom line: If it's a sale, it's taxable. There is, as the saying goes, no free lunch.